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Conference 7.286::sports_91

Title:CAM::SPORTS -- Digital's Daily Sports Tabloid
Notice:This file has been archived. New notes to CAM3::SPORTS.
Moderator:CAM3::WAY
Created:Fri Dec 21 1990
Last Modified:Mon Nov 01 1993
Last Successful Update:Fri Jun 06 1997
Number of topics:290
Total number of notes:84103

99.0. "Dog Sled Racing" by 7221::JHENDRY (John Hendry, DTN 297-2623) Mon Feb 11 1991 16:33

    With the Iditarod coming up next month, I figured it was time to talk
    about that most manly of sports (even though women have been winning
    the Iditarod lately), dog sled racing.  I'd like to start it off by
    posting this little piece from this week's SI (reprinted without
    permission)
    
    Romance
    
    A Mushy Affair (A dogsled team has to stop in the name of love)
    
    DeeDee Jonrowe had a 15-minute lead about 90 miles into the recent 500
    mile Beargrease Sled Dog Marathon when things went awry.  Because the
    37-year-old driver from Willow, Alaska was so far ahead in the
    roundtrip race between Duluth and Grand Portage, Minn., officials had
    not yet put down markers for that part of the course.  So she made a
    right turn instead of a left.  "I knew right away that I had made a
    mistake and I only went about 300 yards,"  says Jonrowe.
    
    In order to get back on the trail, she had to stop her sled.  This
    brief respite from mushing, along with the starts and the moonlight,
    apparently drove the male wheel dog (the one closest to the sled) to
    distraction.  He and the female teammate in front of him began, as
    Jonrowe puts it, "breeding."
    
    Jonrowe and her other 14 dogs discreetly pawed the snow for 25 minutes. 
    Three days later, she finished fourth, a little more than two hours
    behind winner Terry Adkins.  The case of puppy love probably cost
    Jonrowe second place (and $4,500 in prize money), but as she says, "At
    times like that, you just have to let nature take its course."
T.RTitleUserPersonal
Name
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99.1oops7221::JHENDRYJohn Hendry, DTN 297-2623Mon Feb 11 1991 16:354
    Second sentence, second paragraph, should read "stars and moonlight." 
    Sorry.
    
      John
99.3The Last Great RaceCRONIC::CLAYBROOKMon Feb 11 1991 17:1721
    Great note:
          
    I like to follow the last Great Race, Susan Butcher will try to defend
    her title. A great article on her in SI last week. It was about five
    pages long. The article says shes from Cambridge but I believe she
    is actually from Dorchester. I was in the Air Force for five years
    and spent my last three in Anchorage Alaska. Trust me theres nothing
    bigger up there than the Iditarod. Each year I was there I went down
    to the start, which is on 4th st.(4th street being there main st.)
    It's a great atmosphere, I remember standing about three feet away
    from Lynn Swann while he was doing his broadcast on a bitter cold
    day, when he was done I tried to call him over but he just gave
    us a dirty look and walked away. You really don't get coverage
    of it down here until the weekend following the finish. Up in AK
    you get hourly reports on the race all day and night and some nights
    one of the channels will dedicate a couple of hours to it. Some of
    the terrain that they go through is unimaginable. Well just thought
    I'd share some thoughts on the Last Great Race, I almost fell out
    of my chair when I saw this note.
    
                                            Dan
99.4MCIS1::DHAMELParade in October 91,92,93,94,95Mon Feb 11 1991 17:1710
    
    I guess there wasn't any cold water to throw on them, but a good-sized
    chunk of ice could have accomplished the same thing.
    
    I would have shot the mutts if it was me that got screwed out of the
    victory... at least then the finish would have been a "dead heat."
    
    
    Dickstah
    
99.5Same story, different dogs.SHALOT::MEDVIDWhen two tribes go to war...Mon Feb 11 1991 17:2410
>    This
>    brief respite along with the stars and the moonlight,
>    apparently drove the male wheel dog to
>    distraction.  
    
    Funny, I heard Bernie Kosar and his center use the same excuse as to
    why Cleveland finished fourth in the AFC Central this year.
    
    	--dan'l
    
99.6ISLNDS::WASKOMMon Feb 11 1991 19:388
    Maybe someone who knows can answer this, as it really isn't a
    completely rhetorical question.
    
    My first thought on hearing this story (after I finished laughing)
    was "What the hell was she doing with a bitch in heat on the team
    in the first place?"
    
    A&W
99.7"Real" start is in Knik !CSC32::A_PARRACOIs there life EAST of Nevada Ave. ?Fri Feb 15 1991 19:3111
    
    The start of the Iditarod from 4th Avenue is strictly for show. The
    mushers sort of pace themselves to Eagle River (10 miles north of
    Anchorage), where the dogs are then trucked over to Knik (across
    the Cook Inlet) and the official race begins (no civilization to
    contend with, just moose !). 
    
    My wife and I flew up to Nome in 1984 to see the end of the race
    (which Libby Riddles won ?), what a party !
    
    - The Doctor
99.8Swenson wins a record FIFTH Iditarod...CAM::WAYSha-WING!Mon Mar 18 1991 14:1918
For anyone who is interested:

	Rick Swenson won the Iditarod for an unprecedented 5th time.
	Susan Butcher was leading or near the front when they
	ran into a blizzard with whiteout conditions.  It seems
	Swenson decided to press on, while Butcher went back to
	the checkpoint.

	Swenson and Butcher are BITTER rivals -- well, quite frankly
	they hate each others guts.

	I'm not sure why.  One story I heard told that Swenson helped
	get Butcher started, and that she then turned on him, biting
	the hand that fed her, but I don't know for sure....


'Saw

99.9~/~CST17::FARLEYHave YOU seen Elvis Today?Wed Oct 30 1991 17:5319
    Well, after a long and exhaustive search, I have discovered that
    THIS is the *ONLY* note in this entire conference which has
    
    
    
    NO REFERENCE TO RUGBY!!!!!!!!
    
    'Saw, Mac,
    
    	Wassamatter????  You guys need some help or inspiration or
    something to help educate us about how rugby-is-spiritually-better-
    than-dog-racing????????  Or are ya just so careless that ya
    unintentionally missed this one??????
    
    
    8^)
    
    Kev
    
99.10CAM::WAYMUNG, the #1 WORST TreatWed Oct 30 1991 18:0415
>    NO REFERENCE TO RUGBY!!!!!!!!
    


Dog sled racing, like rugby, is a way of life.

I can make a rugby tie in by telling you that one of the ruggers on the
Wanderers trains sled dogs, if you like.

I prefer to see the Dog Sled Racing as a way of life stand on its own
merit, however...


'Saw    

99.11boo hoo you've cheapend it....CST17::FARLEYHave YOU seen Elvis Today?Wed Oct 30 1991 18:3911
    Sheesh!  That only took ya 11 minutes to corrupt this one
    and to top it off, it was a lazy, half-hearted lousy effort!!!!
    
    At least ya coulda done better.
    
    Ah's dissapointed
    
    ;^(
    
    Kev
    
99.12RIPPLE::DEVLIN_JOSET HAWK/PARTY=WIFYOUThu Oct 31 1991 15:179
    What the HECK is a DOG SLED anyways???
    
    I know what a toboggan is.  I own a flexible flyer.  I know about
    saucers and them roll-uip plastic thangs.  But a DOG SLED?  IS it
    shaped like a dog?  How do you get any sliding done?  Is it a sled FOR
    DOGS?  If yes, how many dawgs can ya put on one?  How do the dogs
    steer?  
    
    JD
99.13MCIS1::DHAMELNow I remember! The icemen!Thu Oct 31 1991 18:3526
    
         

    >What the HECK is a DOG SLED anyways???
    
    Didn't you ever watch Sgt. Preston and his wonder dog Yukon King?
    See, he drives this long sled that's on runners.  You can't have a flat
    bottom like a toboggan cuz you'd be squishing all the dog poo under the
    sled as you travel along.  And then there are sides along the side to
    hold in all your gear like your beaver pelts and coffee and gatorade
    and tobaccy and all those other toiletries.
    
    Then at the back of the sled there is a platform for the driver to
    stand on.  Sometimes he/she rides and at other times helps the dogs
    over rough stuff by pushing off like on a skate board.
    
    You ever seen the way Santa's reindeer are hitched up?  Well, them
    doggies are lined up sorta the same way.  And they use these great
    fluffy but manly doggies like huskies and malamutes.  Chihuahuas don't
    work cause they don't do nothing but sit around shivering even on a hot
    day.
    
    There, that about covers it from A to Z.
    
    Dickstah
    
99.14HPSRAD::RIEURead his lips...Know new taxes!Mon Nov 04 1991 09:552
          "Unless you're the lead dog, the view never changes."
                                         -Y. King (wonder dog)
99.15MCIS1::DHAMELWe *all* put the yeast in!Fri Dec 20 1991 16:093
    
    See, dog racing is a lot like rugby...
    
99.16Didn't say which brand though - mustabbeen a oversight :*)7389::FARLEYSon,you can make hundreds o'dollars...Tue Mar 03 1992 17:3316
    The first leg of the Alaskan Ididarod, 150 miles from the start ended
    yesterday in a blinding snowstorm.  Somebody was in the lead!
    
    Anyway you'll love this - because of the snow, before they resumed the
    race, a bunch of snowmobiles left early to pack down the snow and make
    a path!!!
    
    Can you believe it?  What a bunch of wimps!!!  Having snowmobiles make
    a trail so it would be easier!!!!!!!
    
    Oh well, there goes another pure sport......
    
    I remain,
    disallusioned evermore,
    Kev
    
99.17RUGBY1::wayYou'll be left with empty armsTue Mar 03 1992 17:4918
Probably just to get them out of town into the boonies...


IAMS Dog Food (makers of Eukanuba) has a special line set up:  1-800-SLED-DOG
where you can call for updates....


I just called, and the latest leader board looks like this.  The spellings
may be off because I was typing them in as she gave them to me.


		John Baron, Doug Swindley, Martin Busser


I'll try to get another update tomorrow.


'Saw
99.18SASE::SZABOTue Mar 03 1992 17:563
    I'd rather know the dogs' names.  Hail, they're the ones doin' all the
    work!
    
99.19Maybe a photo spread - Sled Dogs of the ACC - ???7389::FARLEYSon,you can make hundreds o'dollars...Tue Mar 03 1992 18:2211
    Hail, Digger wants me ta get him a date or seven with the wimmin
    sled dogs cause he's a young pup feeling his (short time left) oats!
    
    Saw does the OOkenyouba number have a 1-900-SLED-DOG connection?  
    
    deen ot wonk!
    
    I remain,
    the puppy-matchmaker,
    Kev
    
99.20CELTIK::JACOBTue Mar 03 1992 18:236
    
    
    Da scenery only changes fer the lead dog(s)!!!!
    
    JaKe
    
99.21I guess 1/2 of this should go in the so cal note...DECWET::METZGERNot long until March Madness....Tue Mar 03 1992 22:2117
FYi - The race has a few changes this year.


No longer can participants stop in villages along the way for food and shelter.
All food and shelter must be taken at specified dormitory stops. This prevents
the well financed veterans from laying supplies along the whole route however
it also prevents the veterans from stopping in their favorite towns and visiting
with friends they've made over the years...

After watching Northern exposure last night I can say camping out in the snow
is not for me. I'll stick to camping in the summer where I can bathe in a 
stream and not sleep in the same clothes I've walked in for 3-4 days. 

The show was great though....

Metz
 
99.22RIPPLE::DEVLIN_JOGetting Rich: The United WayWed Mar 04 1992 13:349
    Metz -
    
    Camping and hiking in the snow is great fun.  Heck, went last year into
    the Olympics.  Lots and lots of snow.  Nice sunny days.   Standing
    around at the campsite with just boots and shorts on - nice and warm
    with the sun reflecting off the snow.  Just have to try to keep dry -
    and make sure you know how to use your ice axe...
    
    JD
99.23ROYALT::ASHEBound for Moomooland...Thu Mar 05 1992 20:403
    Accrding to USA Today, Iditarod (got to be a joke in that name
    somewhere) trading cards are available, featuring the drivers...
    
99.24RUGBY1::waySon House RULES!Fri Mar 06 1992 12:0612
The think ABC's Wide World of Sports had on last week about the
history of the Iditarod trail and stuff was excellent....


I bought 40lbs of Eukanuba two weeks ago and got a free metal cannister.
The outside is decorated with the Iditarod course.  There are actually
two courses.  In even years, a section of the route goes to the north,
in odd years a section goes to the south...  It's a middle section
and it joins back up about three-fourths of the way through....


'Saw
99.25Eukanuba is to poodles as red meat is to wolves... :-) SASE::SZABOFri Mar 06 1992 12:455
    Eukanuba, Saw?  No wonder that animal's so confused.  Red meat, I say,
    with the blood dripping.  Make him feel like the woof he is!
    
    Hawk
    
99.26CAMONE::WAYSon House RULES!Fri Mar 06 1992 12:5217
>    Eukanuba, Saw?  No wonder that animal's so confused.  Red meat, I say,
>    with the blood dripping.  Make him feel like the woof he is!
>    
>    Hawk

Yep.

I give him meat once in a while, or bones, but he can get more protein
out of the Eukanuba, pound for pound than from meat.....

Besides, he loves to play with his food, and it's a lot cleaner and
neater if it's Eukanuba than a steak....8^)


'Saw
    

99.27FDCV06::KINGLebanon NH, the pits of the world!!!Fri Mar 06 1992 13:034
    What kind of dog do you have Saw????/
    
    
    REK
99.28SASE::SZABOFri Mar 06 1992 13:087
    It's one of those REK-eating dawgs, REK.  And, btw, it's name is RAK. 
    Quite a coincidence, eh?
    
    :-)
    
    Hawk
    
99.29RUGBY1::waySon House RULES!Fri Mar 06 1992 13:3410
He's 5/8 wolf, 3/8 german shepherd.


He's a good dog, smart, and he keeps a lot of critters away from the yard.


He's not that big (only 65 lbs) but he's really really strong...


'Saw
99.30from first hand observation!!!!!!7389::FARLEYSon,you can make hundreds o'dollars...Fri Mar 06 1992 13:4016
    
    (don't say you ain't been warned)
    
    'Saw, if you are easily offended about RAK, skip to the nexted
    unseen
    
    
    RAK's also about 80% wimp dog, probably due to the spiritual impact
    of eating all the Jehovah Witnesses that come a knockin!
    
    Ya know a lot like the kinder and gentler meal!  Ya are what ya eat!
    
    I remain,
    without soft porn at work  :^(
    Kev
    
99.31Race update:AXIS::CHAPPELFor DUTY and HUMANITYFri Mar 06 1992 13:5615
Iditarod update follows 



Doug Swinglwy was first to the halfway point of Cripple, Alaska.

Info as reported in todays edition of the Boston Globe.


Thought I'd better include a FF in case someone  tapeing the race hasn't
view their tape yet.

I'm sure the CBC must be carrying the race LIVE.

Chap
99.32RUGBY1::waySon House RULES!Fri Mar 06 1992 13:5745
I'm not offended.

That's a typical observation that results from a lack of general
knowledge about wolves.


Wolves are at their most outgoing from about 4 months to two years.
How you socialize them during that time period has a great effect
on how they turn out.

For example, I didn't take Rak into the city much.  As a result, he's
not at all comfortable around all the concrete and sidewalks and stuff.


Also, as they get older, they are much more suspicious of strangers to
the pack.  This suspicion is manifested in a wariness that you witnessed.


The day I bought Rak I was at the breeder's house for about 90 minutes.
During that entire time, Kimba, Rak's mother, never came within five feet
of me.   She'd circle and watch, and assimilate me, but the only time
she came near me, she snuck up when I wasn't looking.  She sniffed the
back of my hand and when I turned to her, she was back out at around
6 feet again.    That's typical wolf behavior.


Also, Rak is not an alpha male.  If he was, I think he'd give me a much
harder time about some things...  So that does color his personality a bit.


With people that he knows (my family for example) he is just like a big
overgrown puppy.....


Wolves are not for everyone.  They take a lot of care, and the loyalty they
feel is literally ingrained in their psyches.   The breaking up of a pack
in the wild is a highly traumatic experience, and there are times when he
feels that I'm gone a long time (say on business) where he wonders if I'll
be back....


I can honestly say though that I've never had a more loyal pet....


'Saw
99.33Cheese makes him go silent "phhart" - Arghhhhhh!7389::FARLEYSon,you can make hundreds o'dollars...Fri Mar 06 1992 14:2022
    
    I knew that!  :^)
    
    Digger_the_Goatdog is allegedly 1/2 Huskie, 1/2 Shep but *I* know
    differently.
    
    HE thinks he's a 53lb. lap dog who is supposed to *AT ALL TIMES* have a
    human wrist between his teeth!  No chewing, just have it there like
    Lindsey and her pacifier!
    
    It must also be against his religion, unless under the penalty of
    death, to eat dog food.  OOkanuBa went out months ago and the closest
    to "people food" is Gaines Burglers (current attempt).
    
    Other than socks, pressure treated lattice and wrists, the only stable
    staple has been the 24" rawhide leg-bones.  After 5-6 day's, they're
    gone & it's time for a replenishment.  (btw-Tonight's the night)
    
    I remain,
    shakin off my slobbered-upon wrist!
    Kev
    
99.34FDCV06::KINGLebanon NH, the pits of the world!!!Fri Mar 06 1992 16:364
    65 pounds.... Gonna havefta get a bigger grill....  FOrget
    the Habatchi.....
    
    REK
99.35RUGBY1::waySon House RULES!Fri Mar 06 1992 16:3915
Update:

	Runyon is leading.

	Butcher is 4th, Bussey is 5th.


	The Eskimo who is running the race for the first time, carrying
	the signatures of 700 other Eskimos who have vowed to stay
	sober is in 30th, up from 48th.

	They are just past the halfway point.


'Saw